Updated October 30, 2026. Quick answer: The North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS) main system provides no cost of living adjustment: its financial report says it has no provisions or policies for automatic and ad hoc post-retirement benefit increases. The statute chapter’s postretirement adjustment section gave a one-time 6% increase, payable beginning August 1, 2001, to people already receiving benefits on July 31, 2001; it sets no recurring COLA. No 2027 increase is set.
What the financial report says
The annual report for the year ended June 30, 2025 says: “Benefits are set by statute. The System has no provisions or policies with respect to automatic and ad hoc post-retirement benefit increases.”
What the actuary says
The July 1, 2025 valuation says: “No Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) are provided to benefit recipients. Therefore, there is no COLA assumption for this actuarial valuation.”
The 2001 increase in the statute
The Century Code section on postretirement adjustments applies to “An individual or the individual’s beneficiary who, on July 31, 2001, is receiving retirement benefits under subdivision a, c, d, or e of subsection 4 of section 54-52-17”, and reads: “is entitled to receive an increase in benefits equal to six percent of the individual’s present benefits with the increase payable beginning August 1, 2001.”
What the documents do not say
The enactment date of the 2001 law is not printed in the archived text. The same chapter also holds other one-time or conditional adjustments, which this page describes but does not quote: an increase for prior service retirees from August 1, 2001 (section 54-52-17.10), judges’ increases for 2008 and 2009 (section 54-52-17.11), and a supplemental retiree payment tied to investment returns for fiscal 2007 or 2008 (section 54-52-17.13). Other plans administered or referenced by NDPERS, including the Highway Patrol and Judges plans, are not covered here, and 2025 session bills were not reviewed one by one.
Where 2027 stands
No 2027 NDPERS increase is set: the system says it provides none, and its benefits are set by statute.
Common mistakes
- Expecting a yearly COLA. The report and the valuation both say none is provided.
- Treating the 2001 increase as a recurring formula. It was a one-time 6%.
- Applying this page to TFFR or to the other North Dakota plans.
Related: North Dakota PERS retirement decisions, how public pension decisions work, and whether North Dakota taxes pensions.
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Answer againSources
- North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended June 30, 2025: www.ndpers.nd.gov
- North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System, Actuarial Valuation as of July 1, 2025: www.ndpers.nd.gov
- North Dakota Legislative Assembly, North Dakota Century Code Title 54 Chapter 54-52 Public Employees Retirement System: ndlegis.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 410, Pensions and annuities: www.irs.gov
- Related official page (not quoted): IRS Tax Topic 411, Pensions: the General Rule and the Simplified Method: www.irs.gov
Read from the primary documents linked above on October 30, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer or the IRS itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.